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SERMON XIX.

AGAINST ENVY.

PROVERBS Xxvii. 4.

Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but who is able to stand before envy?

*THIS proverb is intended as a warning against the indulgence of malignant passions. The dangerous qualities of wrath, and anger, and envy are briefly described; and the pre-eminence in the scale of evil is justly assigned to envy, by one who was no common judge of human nature, and whose reputation for wisdom has always placed him among the foremost of mankind. "Wrath," says he, "is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but who is able to stand before envy."

By wrath, he means a settled and deliberate rancour, arising from real or imaginary provocation, and meditating its revenge at the expense of humanity. By anger, he means that sudden fury, which springs

up in the mind, on the apprehension of an injury either supposed or done; and which, though acting with extraordinary vehemence to repel or punish the aggressor, subsides afterwards into a calmer and more even temper. It is a passion that soon cools again; and even wrath may, in length of time, be appeased. Neither of them is so malignant as envy; for that is a vice acquired by degrees; and it grows, by indulgence, into so virulent a habit, as totally to corrupt the mind,—and to infuse into it a deliberate pleasure, from any harm or misfortune that befals the envied object.

To define this rankling passion in precise and methodical terms, will be needless; because every man knows it at sight, and receives, from his own senses, a clearer idea of it than words can express. It has always been an object of detestation, and has sometimes been thought to be such a monster, as the human bosom could not, of itself, have engendered. It was, therefore, in the earlier ages, ascribed to witchcraft, and was supposed, also, to possess the power of bewitching. Our Saviour himself, with reference, perhaps, to this notion, calls it "an evil eye;" but he derives its origin from the baseness, and selfishness, and impurity of the heart.

If we analyze it, we shall find it to be compounded of two passions, which, in themselves, are innocent, and which were implanted in us by our wise Creator for good and useful purposes,-the passions of emulation and sorrow. By emulation, we are impelled to

seek pre-eminence in some arduous and laudable pursuit, with the view of promoting the conveniences and the happiness of those around us. And when we see others acting with genuine solicitude for purposes of kindness and beneficence, we may lawfully vie with them in their noble course, and may endeavour even to outstrip them. We may thus, without imputation of sin or folly, raise our credit, and dignify our minds, and may pursue our present and future happiness, by "being good, and doing good;" for God himself is goodness, and delights in the exercise of it. By sorrow, we are made subject to painful sensations, when our own honest views, or those of others, are baffled and disconcerted; when vice prospers, or gains those advantages which are due to virtue and worth alone; when evil umerited either besets or threatens us; when afflictions or disappoint ments harrass either ourselves, or those in whose welfare we are and ought to be concerned.

From these two passions, when they are duly regulated, and are confined to proper objects, good will necessarily accrue but not so, when they have gained too great an ascendency over us. If they are unrestrained, we have given them a wrong bias, and determine them to unlawful ends. Our emulation is then busied only for what we judge to be our own credit or reputation. Our sorrow regards merely. our own private affairs, and we regret that our projects, whether good or bad, do not prosper. This uneasy turn of thought gathers strength by indul

gence; till the gloomy vice of envy grows within us, and makes us view our competitors as personal enemies, and turns their worth, or reputation, or success, into so many sources of vexation to ourselves.

Those who have studied human nature, and have considered the moral ends for which we were created, are convinced that the happiness of all men, whether as communities or as individuals, was originally intended by the Almighty; and that, for this purpose, He implanted in the mind vigorous principles and generous affections, having for their aim a large and free-spirited benevolence. They are further convinced, that the welfare of every individual is connected with the welfare of others; that it flourishes best in that connexion; and, therefore, that doing good to our brethren is, in fact, doing good to ourselves. Now, when these principles and affections are narrowed through negligence or perverseness, or through the arrogance of self-esteem, then we misapply those passions which were designed for nobler uses, and our own gratification is studied, in preference and even in opposition to the general welfare. We behold every thing through a deceitful medium. Self then becomes the exclusive object of our efforts and desires. And yet, in all our competitions, those persons who act with better views and in a better spirit, will certainly surpass us. The consequence is, that, as self-interest has excluded all generosity, and love for others; and yet, as a sense of excellence and distinction remains irrepressible within us, we

cannot look, without repining and discontent, on the success that outrivals us. We feel, and from the close connexion between the mind and the body, we manifest to others that we feel the festering of envy, repining because we have not the superiority that we wished. Thus we retain the desire of good, though the means of accomplishing it are, through our own guilt or perverseness, entirely lost.

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When the mind has once taken this vitiated turn, the frequency of objects, evermore recurring, allow it no remission; and it is fixed into a lasting and inveterate habit. As the true spirit of emulation is gone, the desire of excelling is gradually impaired, and, at length, it is destroyed. The resource which we then seek, for the gratification of our passions, is tó obstruct or vilify those, who exert themselves in laudable pursuits. Whatever is good in them, we regard as evil to us. Their success we consider as our misfortune, and their happiness as our misery. The passion of sorrow is continually on the stretch;

and, as it is withdrawn from its proper objects, it ferments into successive fits of envy, not only at the excellencies we perceive in others, but at the distinctions they acquire. We grieve at whatever implies superiority, such as greater wealth, or power, or influence, or public estimation; till, at length, we cast a baneful eye at every thing that is external to ourselves: : Bad feelings, indulged and grown habitual, cause us to envy others, first, for their honest industry and good conduct, and next, for their

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